Marketing communication as the amalgam of all branches of Mass Communication is a very interesting aspect of human endeavor. Though complex, if handled with all necessary professional finesse it requires, it will always contribute to the growth of business enterprises generally. Media Relations is a very important adjunct of Public Relations, which must be handled with all sense of responsibility and focused attention so as to avoid unnecessary image and perception problems. To start with, what is Media Relations? You may ask. Professionally speaking, Media Relations is the art of managing or handling the general interaction or relationship between business/corporate entities and the media (print, electronic/social media/ miscellaneous). The main focus of this practice is to ensure that the PR activities of clients are well highlighted in the media, without any blemish.
Handling this main function is not for the fickle minded, but very meticulous, pragmatic and realistic person. Public Relations itself is a very highly integrity laced profession. Any PR practitioner who is not of an impeccable character will soon meet his or her waterloo. The Media Department of the consulting PR firm or the Independent media relations departments of some business/corporate organizations, which are ensconced in their PR departments, are handling Media Relations.
Believe it or not, some of the Communication Managers of client companies do not know the entailments of the job, they keep on making unprofessional demands, wanting their PR or Media Relations consulting firms to cut corners to achieve what they should not have ever demanded if they knew their onions, and unfortunately most of these consulting firms, because of lack of jobs, or their desire to keep their retainership, go on to do all they can to execute frivolous briefs. This is very unprofessional, as it will definitely not augur well for the client’s image and the profession would suffer most for this seemingly innocuous practice. A conscious effort would be made here to proffer some of the ways through which an effective Media Relations could be practiced.
Brief the client on how the media work. Tell the client the type of stories that cannot be published. PR stories, Yes they can be published, but an advert is an advert, it must be paid for, so make client know that on no account would advertisements be blatantly displayed in a write up. If a client insists it should be like that, then advise the client to place that he or she can dictate what goes into it or not. Take time off periodically, to educate the client on how media houses operate. This will enable the client to appreciate the workings of the media; it would also assist the client to understand whenever the consultant is having operational problems, which may crop up sometime.
For God’s sake, let the client know what you cannot influence the length or size of stories in the print media or the extent of news bulletin on the electronic media. On miscellaneous media, the client can because he pays just like the normal advert. Even on this, the influence is still limited and subject to operational dictates. In the case of media buying, which may come up in the course of the consultant’s job. He should let the client know some circumstances can affect insertion in print or slottings on Radio/Television or displays on outdoor hoardings.
If there is any change in print/electronic/social media, it should be communicated to the client especially if it may affect the client’s briefs etc. There should be media relations’ appraisal interaction with the client on regular intervals, to proffer ways of improving the client/consultant/media relationship. Photo shot publications in print media especially, will always elicit bad feelings from a client if not properly briefed. Print media houses have different policies regarding publishing stories/photo placements. If these policies are not brought to the knowledge of the client, the client would want to dictate and ask for the moon, even when it is not possible.
The consultant should let the client know there is no magic in this practice. Enough time should always be there to enable the consultant/media houses do their jobs. It is unfortunate some clients always want magic, they bring briefs and would want instantaneous service. The media relations’ consultant is not a publisher. Even if he is one, he may not possibly own all the print media houses in the land, which the client would want used to highlight his PR/Marketing activities. The consultant should always create ways through which unblemished relationship can evolve and be entrenched between them. As a matter of fact, the consultant should always hold interactive sessions with media personnel at regular intervals to engender better understanding between them. These will enable the consultant know of any change in policies, focus or ethics, to get level playing field for the client, consultant/media houses, a highly committed effort should always be made by the consultant, who is the professional intermediary between the client and the media houses.
In this media relations practice, a series of interactive exercises are very necessary, because some of the Communication Managers, Brand Managers, Marketing Managers and other Executive in charge of media relations from the client’s angle do not know what they are supposed to do at any given instance, so the media relations executive or consultant has a lot on his hands, he will end up being the trouble pipeline between the client and the media, which means he would sooner than later be out of business. To get into this field, even the former Journalist, who wishes to delve in, should make a conscientious effort to acquire some grounding, because it takes more than the hitherto existing camaraderie between him and his colleagues to fare well in this noble profession. This also goes to dispel the erroneous belief that journalists can dabble into Public Relations without any grounding. Anybody that has been in journalism or in another area of marketing communication other than PR, but wants to join this noble profession needs a serious training PR. This is a sine qua non. Public Relations transcends writing of stories and releases, it includes Crises
Prevention/Management, Media Relations, Community Relations, Perception, Psychology and Planning/Organization Dexterity. In PR and its adjunct Media Relations, there should be no lying, no distortion, no embellishment, just say it the way it is and nothing more or less. If anything happens, do not deny or distort or try to feign ignorance. Just say it the way it happened, apologise where necessary and adduce measures being put in place to forestall future occurrences and to avoid mis-information, which will affect the mutual understanding, the PR consultant is trying to build between the client and its publics.